Key West Grilled Chicken with Cilantro-Lime Cauliflower Rice

Key West Grilled Chicken with Cilantro-Lime Cauliflower Rice is light, healthy, and full of fresh Key West flavors like honey, lime, and soy sauce.

I don’t want to alarm you, but the fact that we’re entering the last week in June today means that the 4th of July is now less than 10 days away! Eek/wee!

Obviously I’m freaking out that the summer feels 1/3 over, but I can’t help but do a little happy dance at the same time. Not only is the 4th of July one of my all-time favorite holidays because of all the sparklers, black snake tablets, and firework displays you can handle, but also because it’s one of the biggest and best grilling days of the entire year.

That said, this week I thought I’d share some new grilling and BBQ recipes that are perfect for the 4th, or any sunny summer day for that matter, starting with an ultra juicy, flavor-packed grilled chicken dish, Key West Grilled Chicken with Mango Salsa & Cilantro-Lime Cauliflower Rice. (Ignore the hideous pink drink for now – I’ll explain in a bit…)

Lean chicken breasts are marinated in a Key West-inspired honey-soy-lime mixture, then grilled and served on a bed of low-carb cilantro-lime cauliflower rice, with a heaping spoonful of fresh mango salsa on top.

This is, without a doubt, my favorite grilled chicken dish of the summer! The honey in the marinade caramelizes on the grill, and the lime juice and soy sauce in the marinade keep the chicken so flavorful and tender.

The taste also takes me back to the spring break trips to Key West that my friends and I took a couple times in college.

Ahh Key West – where limes, leisure, and jean skirts run free. ;)

Start the Key West Grilled Chicken by marinating 4 chicken breasts in an awesome combo of sweet, salty, savory, and spicy ingredients.

In a small bowl, whisk together soy sauce, and vegetable oil.

Followed by honey and fresh lime juice.

Finish the marinade with a couple crushed garlic cloves and half a jalapeno.

Place the chicken breasts in a ziplock bag, pour the marinade on top, then squish everything around so all the chicken gets covered.

Now let the chicken hang in the fridge for at least 1 hour, and up to 8 hours. I only marinated mine for an hour and it came out perfect! K. Now, while the chicken’s doin’ it’s thang in the fridge, go ahead and mix up a quick, tropical-tasting Mango Salsa to drizzle on top of the grilled chicken.

This salsa is seriously fantastic you guys, and really easy too. Just combine fresh mango with jalapeno, green onions, cilantro, garlic, salt, pepper, and the lime juice. You can make this a day ahead and let it hang out in the fridge. Just don’t tell anyone it’s in there, or it won’t make it through the night! (Read: it’s so good I cough ate all the leftovers with a spoon cough.)

Finally, prep the Cilantro-Lime Cauliflower Rice that will go underneath the grilled chicken.

This recipe is based on the cauliflower “rice” I made for my Maple Grilled Salmon with Skinny Rice a couple months ago. I have literally thought about the rice fake out dish that’s low in carbs, but high in taste every week since then, and thought this would be the perfect excuse to make it again.

Slap the grating blade onto your food processor and process 1 head of raw cauliflower. If you don’t have a food processor, use a box or flat grater.

Saute the fresh cauliflower rice in vegetable oil, seasoning with salt, until it softens and starts to turn golden brown, about 10 minutes.

Turn off the heat, then add in fresh lime juice and chopped cilantro.

Meanwhile, grill the marinated chicken over medium-high heat for 4-5 minutes a side, basting with the leftover marinade once or twice.

Plate the cooked cilantro-lime cauliflower rice, then top with a grilled chicken breast and hefty scoop of fresh, mango salsa!

For the chicken: Whisk together soy sauce, honey, vegetable oil, lime juice, and garlic in a small bowl. Place chicken breasts in a ziplock bag and pour mixture on top. Add jalapeno, squish to coat chicken in marinade, then refrigerate for 1 hour, or up to 8 hours. Grill chicken over medium-high heat for 4-5 minutes a side, basting with the leftover marinade a few times as it grills.

For the mango salsa: Combine all salsa ingredients in a bowl. Refrigerate until ready to use.

For the cilantro-lime cauliflower rice: Shred cauliflower using the shredding blade on a food processor, or by hand with a flat or box grater. Heat vegetable oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Add cauliflower, season with salt, then saute until soft and just starting to turn golden brown, about 10 minutes. Turn off the heat, then add 1 Tablespoon lime juice and cilantro. Taste and add more lime juice if desired.

*Tip: To make all three components of this recipe you’ll need 1 bunch cilantro, 1 jalapeno, and 4 limes.

Don”t be scared by the length of the ingredient list here, people! Cilantro, jalapeno, and lime juice are used in all three components, so you really only need 1 bunch of cilantro, for example, to make the entire recipe.

Plus I really don’t want you to miss out on this dish! The chicken stays so moist, and the sweet-heat of the honey and jalapeno is just fantastic.

I just can’t get over that cauliflower “rice” either. It’s low in calories and fat, plus Ben adores it too, which is always a win.

It’s kind of margarita-ish, what with the tequila and lime juice, but about 4,000% lower in calories. Plus I felt it was only appropriate to make since you can’t talk Key West without talkin’ margaritas!

I love this rice trick but to be honest, I am ashamed to admit I have no idea how to use that bale on my food processor. LoL. Nor have I ever took the time to teach myself. I should change that because I think I need to make this rice stat!

Just wanted to let you know I made the spicy black bean burgers tonight and they were delicious! I even made homemade guacamole for the first time and spread it on top! Now I need to look through your recipes to use the leftover chiles :)

I love all the summer-y recipes you come up with! I just made the BBQ Chicken Quinoa Salad you had on your blog a couple weeks ago, and I loved it! I didn’t have to eat much of it to feel very satisfied, and it was my first time trying quinoa, which I am now in love with! Thanks so much for sharing all your tasty and season-inspired recipes :)

This looks fabulous! I am so glad that I took the time to read your whole post…my initial reaction (when I saw the first picture) was “This looks so good, but I am eating low carb, so I will just skip the rice” So, to find out a few paragraphs later that it wasn’t rice at all! Can’t wait to try this! I am also looking forward to finding that drink mix at TJ’s. Thanks for sharing!

Just popped this in the refrigerator to marinate until supper. I’m so excited to taste it! I had all the ingredients on hand except for the mangoes. So, I ran to the store to pick them up and thought I’d check for a cherry-pomegranate mix as well (we don’t have Trader Joe’s in the N. Liberty area). I didn’t find any, but I was super excited to find Crystal LIght Mojito & Margarita mixes. I’m going to substitute the Margarita one for the drink tonight. Thanks for the always-amazing recipes and ideas!

I’m seriously about to go buy some cauliflower, jalapeno, and club soda (being the only ingredients not already in my cupboard) so I can make this entire meal. My fiancee will LOVE it… and I’ve been trying desperately to figure out something other than margaritas (or shots) I can do with my bottle of tequila, so thanks for that :D

Ever since you made the cauliflower rice for the salmon, I’ve been obsessed with it. I make it all the time (seriously, 3 times a week!) I’ve been trying a bunch of different seasonings and so far my favorite is Tony Chachere’s Creole Seasoning. Yum!

I will try to show my drink on my blog but it doesn’t contain any alcohol, though I like the color. Your pink drink is beautiful and I’d definitely try it. I love Trader Joe’s, ain’t gonna marry it but you catch my drift, cos they have so many food options there. I found your blog because I thought it had something to do with Key West and my friend went there, so I’m trying to find out about it.

I made this last week, and it was a huge hit! Kiddos and husbands alike LOVED it. My husband said that I should add this to “the rotation”! Thanks – it was really yummy – probably my favorite chicken recipe to date!

Made this for dinner tonight! I will be making this again, especially the cauliflower rice- so yummy and low cal/low carb! The mango salsa made the dish. I might try it with pineapple next time… leftovers for lunch tomorrow, I can’t wait!

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Just made this last and my boyfriend and I LOVED it! There is so much flavor in the marinade, it really made the chicken taste wonderful. The mango salsa was also a great addition and a perfect summer meal. Thank you so much for all of your great recipes, we cook something of yours at least once a week but usually more! Thank you so much!

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I am making this tonight for my sister and her boyfriend for their anniversary (I’m the chef/waiter). He always wanted to go to Key West so she wants to surprise him with a themed full course dinner. I did a lot of the preparations last night (chicken marinating, shredding the cauliflower with a flat grater & making the salsa so the flavors can marry together). The chicken marinade itself smells soooo delish! I don’t have an outside grill so I’m going to try and do what I can with my handy dandy George Foreman.

I’m serving this with bacon wrapped shrimp and also Cinnamon Chips and fruit dip as their appetizer. Your Key Lime Chicken Recipe for an entree, Key Lime Pie for Dessert and she just insists on drinking Jamaican Me Happy Wine Coolers as a beverage lol… So Im going to pour it in a wine glass and throw a few thin slices of lime/lemon.

Made this last night and it was wonderful! I made extra marinade sauce and used it this morning to drizzle over my leftover chicken mango salsa for a sandwich for lunch today! Yum!!! Thanks so much for this awesome recipe!

Thanks for this recipe- your instructions and pictures make it very inviting and approachable. I have major kitchen-stage fright and am having family & friends tonight for dinner. This will be a success!
Thanks!

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My name's Kristin and I'm an Iowa Girl! I eat as well as my sweet tooth allows, run as often as possible despite the crazy Iowa weather, and am usually dreaming about the next place I want to travel to! Read more...